Facebook’s ‘Timeline’ Trademark Trial Delayed

With no explanation, a U.S. District Judge has delayed the trial that has Facebook on the defensive over its “Timeline” product.

The case involves Chicago-based Timelines.com, a site that allows users to create interactive “timelines” based on historical events. Back in October of 2011, they sued Facebook for trademark infringement just weeks after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the new Timeline profile page at the company’s f8 conference.

According to the report, U.S. District Judge John W. Darrah conferred with lawyers for approximately 90 minutes before declaring a recess, after which he said that the tril would be postponed until either tomorrow afternoon, or if need be, May 7th.

After Timelines.com sued Facebook for the supposed trademark infringement, Facebook countersued, claiming that the word “timeline” was too generic for federal trademark protections. They argue that Timelines.com has no legal rights to them, and that they should be canceled.

Facebook moved for dismissal, but Judge Darrah rejected that motion earlier this month. He said that Facebook “failed to demonstrate, as a matter of law, that the marks are generic.” He noted that the word “timeline” may very well have specific meaning to Timelines.com users, and therefore the case should see a trial.